Commuter villages – Hampshire
Whether you are moving out of London, looking for the bucolic peace of village life or even the bustle of a market town, Hampshire offers some fantastic places to live. Within a 1-hour commute to London Waterloo. Whilst the county offers a wide selection of locations the three top commuter villages in Hampshire, detailed below, offer particular advantages to those seeking to travel to and from London.
From my experience (and I’m sure you’ll agree) the key to a happy commute is; low stress, an easy journey, plenty of parking spaces, seats on the train and a timely, reliable and punctual train service.
The good news for those moving in or to Hampshire is that South West Trains [the operator who manages all the services in the country and into Dorset and Wiltshire] has a good track record. According to the Industry Watchdog’s recent survey, South West Trains came out top of the London commuter service operators!
The village of Bentley
A gem for commuters – The village has access to it’s own station, easy parking and trains run every 30 minutes – With typical commute times being 1 hour.
Bentley has the charms of a village that appears to have changed little in the past 100 years; with an attractive 12th Century Church, fantastic village pub, a shop that has been in the same family for 4-5 generations and a good community that regularly organises events from bonfire nights to film evenings. It is located just 5 miles from the thriving, bustling, historic town of Farnham, yet is surrounded by fields and forests and has the River Wey meandering passed.
For families the schooling options are great; with the village Primary School rated Outstanding and several high quality independent schools a short drive away.
[Alternative Villages: Binsted, Upper and Lower Froyle]
The village of Odiham
Odiham is just 2 miles from Hook, where the trains run to Waterloo regularly and take between 50 minutes and one hour. Odiham is a picturesque market town in North Hampshire, with a high street lined with handsome Georgian houses and independent shops and cafes.
In recent years Odiham has frequently been voted one of the best places to live in the country and in 2015 the Sunday Times described it as “the most desirable place to live in Britain for the past decade”.
It sits in the borough of Hart which has been voted as the district with the best quality of life in the UK for 5 years in a row. The local Infant and Junior schools are both rated Good by OFSTED, and there are a wide variety of independent school within reach including; Wellington College and Pangbourne College.
[Alternative Villages: North Warnborough, Weston Patrick, Upton Grey, Greywell]
The village of Overton
Overton is a large picturesque village which is strong on tradition and community.
The friendly and vibrant community means that there is always something going on and there is a club or society for everyone from; Rugby and Tennis to Drama and Biodiversity.
The size of the village means that it has ‘everything you need’ including a good butchers and greengrocers, several pubs, tea rooms and cafes, a deli and an ‘Outstanding’ Primary School. There are beautiful walks and rides in the surrounding countryside – to the north in the North Wessex Downs (AONB) and the famous Watership Down, and to the south along the chalk streams of the Test Valley, which is home to some of the best trout fishing in the country.
Commuting to London Waterloo takes approximately 55 minutes and trains run twice an hour. Free parking at the station is an added bonus.
[Alternative Villages: Quidhampton, Steventon, Laverstoke, Deane, Ashe]
If you would like to know how you could benefit from these commuter villages or have an interest in moving to the Hampshire region, please contact us.
